January 7: The government has fixed the support price of sugarcane for this year after the sugarcane produced by the farmers dried up. Expressing their dissatisfaction, the sugarcane farmers complained that the government fixed the support price too late due to the temptation shown by the middlemen and industrialists.

According to the Sugarcane Farmers' Struggle Committee, the delay in setting the price by the government for about a month and a half has caused huge financial loss to them.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Wednesday (January 5) fixed the support price of sugarcane at Rs 590 per quintal for this year. The struggle committee has been repeatedly requesting the government to fix the support price of sugarcane at the right time. Despite this, the government fixed the support price of sugarcane late while ignoring the farmers’ requests.

Secretary of the struggle committee Hari Shyam Raya said that most of the farmers' sugarcane has already dried up due to the government's delay in fixing the support price. According to him, the government should have fixed the support price by mid-November.

 “The government did not fix the support price of sugarcane in time, so the operation of sugarcane mills was delayed this year. It has resulted in the delay in harvesting and selling sugarcane. When there is a delay in cutting and selling sugarcane, the sugarcane starts drying and the production starts declining. We don't understand why the government is doing this,” he said.

Raya estimates that the production may decrease up to 4 quintals per kattha due to delay in selling sugarcane which was ready for sales in mid-November. On the one hand, the farmers are worried that millions of rupees will be lost this year due to the drying up of sugarcane, while on the other hand, they are worried about not being able to plant another crop on the land.

Farmers dissatisfied with support price

Sugarcane farmers have expressed dissatisfaction over the support price set by the government. Farmers have expressed dissatisfaction over the support price even though the government has increased the price by Rs 46 per quintal compared to last year and fixed it at Rs 590 per quintal. Farmers have demanded a price of Rs 700 per quintal.

According to the farmers, tt costs Rs 382 to produce one quintal of sugarcane and Rs 62 for transportation. They will be able to make a profit of only Rs 76 per quintal as per the price fixed by the government. Farmers complain that this profit amount is very low.

However, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development said the price was relevant as it was determined in consultation with sugarcane producers and sugar industrialists. The farmers on the other hand said that the quantity of sugarcane produced in Nepal is decreasing every year as the government has always been ignoring the sugarcane farmers.